Engineering Group Highlights Public Risks of Federal Budget Impasse

April 17, 2013- The National Society of Professional Engineers in March wrote to leaders about the potentially grave result of the federal budget impasse and sequestration: the diminished ability of professional engineers to protect public health and safety.

While the critical work of engineers in public and private sectors continues, declining funds present a major impediment to their efforts, the group said in a press release. Professional engineers are dedicated to practicing engineering in an ethical manner that preserves the health, safety, and welfare of the public. Reducing funding for vital engineering projects has the potential to create project authorization barriers, the group wrote, forcing engineers to postpone critical projects or to complete projects in a manner opposed to their ethical standards, which might impact public safety. 

In letters to President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Speaker of the House John Boehner, NSPE President Dan Wittliff, P.E., F.NSPE, wrote, "The efforts of tens of thousands of America's professional engineers working to improve our nation's infrastructure, to identify new energy sources, to protect our environment, and to support our national security are being jeopardized because of the federal government's inability to resolve the current budget impasse." 

"To minimize the possibility that these and other important engineering efforts are put at risk," wrote Wittliff, "NSPE urges all parties in these budget discussions to vigorously pursue expeditious resolution of their differences for the benefit of the health, safety, and welfare of the American people."

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